2027: INEC Fixes November 28 for Mock Accreditation, Voting

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed November 28, 2026, for a nationwide mock accreditation and voting exercise as part of preparations for the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, announced the date on Thursday, November 12, during a dialogue at Chatham House in London, organised in partnership with the Kimpact Development Initiative.

The event, themed “Nigeria’s 2027 Elections: Democratic Trajectory and Regional Stability Beyond the Ballot,” provided an opportunity for the commission to outline its preparations and electoral reforms ahead of the polls.

Amupitan said the exercise would take place across all states of the federation and simulate the presidential election to assess the commission’s readiness, particularly in voter accreditation and electronic transmission of results.

He explained that the mock exercise would test upgrades to the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and the electronic results transmission process, allowing INEC to identify and address possible technical challenges before election day.

“On the 28th of this month, we will conduct a mock accreditation and voting exercise across all states of the Federation to simulate the presidential election and verify that we have gotten both accreditation and electronic result transmission right,” he said.

The INEC chairman also disclosed that the commission had introduced technical safeguards to prevent inaccurate polling unit results and figures indicating over-voting from being uploaded to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV).

According to him, the new measures are designed to ensure that only verified polling unit results are transmitted to the public portal.

Amupitan said the commission had reviewed the challenges experienced during the 2023 general elections and identified areas requiring improvement, particularly in the management and collation of election results.

He maintained that INEC was applying lessons from recent off-cycle elections to strengthen its operational capacity and improve public confidence in the electoral process.

The commission has also been upgrading its electoral technology and strengthening procedures for result management ahead of the 2027 polls.

The mock exercise is expected to provide an opportunity to assess these improvements before the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, 2027.

The governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections are scheduled for February 6, 2027.